An Anniversary, A Book, and a World of Spirits

Before I begin, I want to acknowledge I haven’t blogged much over the passed year. That is because I was writing a book, _Living Spirits: A Guide to Magic in a World of Spirits_ that book is now complete and is available. So hopefully I’ll be blogging more soon. If you’ve enjoyed my blog in the past you’ll probably enjoy the book, so please order a copy. If you want more info, this post is actually going to talk about it a bit.

The late December/early January has presented the anniversaries of some cool posts.

Last January included a very popular post on faeries, and how the experience of work with the fair folk compares to taking opiates and having orgasms. We also explored the exploration of grave yards and alliances with the local dead.

December of 2017 we looked at the Catholic traditions surrounding the Three Kings in preparation for Epiphany, which occurred yesterday. We also explored the ongoing nature of the experience of Knowledge and Conversation, as opposed to the idea of doing it to check a box.

January 2017 also looked at the Holy Guardian Angel, with a very popular post about sex and the Abramelin retreat.

But our big January Anniversary was January 5^th 2017. That was when we posted the first post in our Beginning Conjuration series, an 8-part series introducing ways to interact with several types of spirits. The series was conceptualized as a sort of free mini-e-book serialized over 8 posts.

The topics presented were:

Recommended Books

Devotion

Scrying

Elementals

Intermediary Spirits

Angels and Demons

The Dead

The Fair Folk

People seemed to like the series. Some comments as people reposted it included:

“Comprehensive, and all around excellent, thematically linked series of blog posts on the subject of spirit conjuring by BJ Swayne. Enjoy.” – C. Degraffenreid

and

“Over the recent days, BJ Swayne has been making available a series of introduction to conjure magick posts that make the fundamentals of "DOING MAGICK" and "doing magick right" available to folks just getting into this thing, from the perspective of someone who gets it, whose done it, and who has reaped the rewards. He's one of my favorite magicians, and he's just giving this stuff away.” – Fr. Rufus Opus

The series was pretty cool, if I’m allowed to say that myself.

So cool that I thought, “I should expand this, tie it together more, flesh it out into something more workable and complete, people can read the short form for free and if they like it, an expanded form will be available to buy as a book.”

I ended up, accidentally, beginning the expansion January 5^th 2018, the anniversary of the release of the first post. December 25^th 2018 I published it as _Living Spirits: A Guide to Magic in a World of Spirits_.

So you might think “So you’re book is your blog posts?” Well, no it isn’t. I revised and expanded seven of the original eight posts as part of the project, significantly expanded, and added more ritual instructions. I also wrote a ton of new material, additional chapters, and four appendices for practical work.

The original project was about 25 typed pages, which would have been about a 40 page book. The final project was a book of over 350 pages.

Here is the table of contents. You can compare it to the list of the original 8 topics and also see if it sounds like stuff you’d find interesting.

I A Spirit Haunted World ........................................................................................11

II What Is Conjuration? ...........................................................................................17

III An Historical View of Conjuration .....................................................................21

IV Solomonic Magic: It’s History and Nature .........................................................33

V Devotion ................................................................................................................47

A Devotional Ritual: Installing an Image .................................................................53

VI Scrying ..................................................................................................................56

VII Ancestors ............................................................................................................61

VIII Elementals .........................................................................................................79

Conjuring the Elemental Spirits ...........................................................................85

IX Nature Spirits .......................................................................................................86

X Preparation, Charism, and Intermediary Spirits ..................................................96

XI The Holy Guardian Angel ............................................................................... 109

XII The Four Kings ............................................................................................... 119

A Conjuration for Asking Kings of the Cardinal Directions to Send a Spirit . 134

XIII Hekate ............................................................................................................ 139

Deipnon ............................................................................................................. 156

A Tiresian Necromancy of Hekate Based on the 1st Century Description by Statius ................................................................................................................. 161

XIV Angels and Demons ...................................................................................... 171

XV Aerial Spirits .................................................................................................... 184

Conjuration of King Arcan ................................................................................ 195

XVI The Olympic Spirits ...................................................................................... 198

XVII The Dead ..................................................................................................... 207

XVIII Fairies .......................................................................................................... 217

XIX Tying It All Together .................................................................................... 225

Offerings ............................................................................................................. 230

Spaces ................................................................................................................. 233

Not All Spirits are Good .................................................................................... 235

Protection ........................................................................................................... 236  First Appendix: Grimoire Spells ............................................................................ 239

Love Spell ........................................................................................................... 250

Money Spell ........................................................................................................ 253

Elimination Spell ................................................................................................ 256

Second Appendix: The Pentacles of Solomon...................................................... 259

Consecration of the Fifth Pentacle of Luna ....................................................... 265

Consecration of the Fifth Pentacle of Mercury ................................................. 270

Consecration of the Fifth Pentacle of Venus ..................................................... 275

Consecration of the Third Pentacle of Sol ........................................................ 281

Consecration of the Sixth Pentacle of Mars ...................................................... 287

Consecration of the Second Pentacle of Jupiter ................................................ 292

Consecration of the Fourth Pentacle of Saturn ................................................. 298

Third Appendix: Southern Conjure: A Practical Look at Spiritous Sorcery ....... 304

Petition papers .................................................................................................... 310

Powders and Oils ................................................................................................ 313

Candles ................................................................................................................ 318

Mojo Hands ........................................................................................................ 320

Sweetening Jars ................................................................................................... 322

Fourth Appendix: Two Group Rituals................................................................... 328

By Lamp and Water ........................................................................................... 329

A Feast for the Dead .......................................................................................... 346

Summation .......................................................................................................... 363

So maybe this wasn’t the most exciting return to blogging, but hopefully the trip down memory lane showed you some cool posts you may have missed and will enjoy.

If the book looks cool…please show support and buy a copy!

You can also follow the blog at Glory of the Stars on Facebook

You can follow announcements about the book at Living Spirits: A Guide to Magicin a World of Spirits, on Facebook

And you can hang out with lots of cool people and chat about magic in our Facebook group Living Spirits

New cool topical blog posts coming soon.

Touched By an Angel

There seem to be more people working towards achieving Knowledge and Conversation of their Holy Guardian Angels these days, and that's great. There also seem to be more people who want to look like they've checked that box on the spiritual authority check list, and that's not so great.

A friend recently noted that we see a lot of people who describe their experience as if it was one super cool moment, and then it was done. Nothing changes after, there is no relationship after, they did it, they have it in their back pocket that they did it, and they don't have much of anything useful to add to the discourse that reflects their experience. They generalize the angel, or reduce its nature to something relatively meaningless, or treat attaining the angel like a badge they get for leveling up and then moving on. The experience is doing the thing, and saying they did the thing, and that's all it is; it's another experiment with another grimoire or another technique and they met the spirit and it was cool and that's it, right?

Nope.

It's a pretty immense fantastic experience when it happens. And to some degree that initial experience is momentary. That momentary experience exists to create a powerful on going relationship. Think of it sort of like a friend. You can call up a friend, hang out, have a good time, and then go your own way, getting together as needed. But say you and that friend have some sort of life changing experience which shapes the both of you, that creates a bond which ties you together and lets you share an intimacy you don't have with others, so there is a connection which is always there. The moment in the oratory where you complete the retreat is like that. It is a moment so full of force and fire that it forges a bond between you and the angel which is unlike that of other spirits with whom you interact.

Now, based on many approaches to understanding the angel, there is already a bond between you and your angel before the retreat. I would question whether or not all of these other descriptions of Guardian Angels and Holy Guardian Angels are necessarily talking about the same thing as what is described in The Sacred Magic, in fact, I would assert that in many cases they aren't. That said, in my experience, yes, your angel is there from the beginning, and you can and should make contact before doing the retreat. The retreat changes the nature of the bond and the contact, probably mostly on our end, but still, there is a perceptible change, which changes us and how the angel interacts with us.

I very rarely reference things Aaron Leitch says, and initially when I saw him compare Knowledge and Conversation to being Crowned by a spirit I mistook his meaning, and I avoided the comparison. But really, it is pretty apt. Knowledge and Conversation is a form of possession.

People tend to think of possession as it appears in The Exorcist, or The Exorcism of Emily Rose, or other cinematic depictions. Both of those examples are based on true stories, to some degree, but they both take cinematic license and make things visually shocking for horror movie audiences. Still, there is a reality to that kind of possession. Possession can refer to a point where a spirit takes over a person, and torments them. Possession can look like madness.

But that's not the only kind of possession, and even in the case of a spiritual assault there are stages to possession. In magic, where we find possession occurring as choice in which the magician has a relationship with the spirit these stages are more clearly understood. Unfortunately most European Magic (as Western is an inaccurate description) no longer contains spirit possession work, so for most people exploring Holy Guardian Angels, spirit possession means spinning heads and pea soup.

So first you should understand that possession occurs in different stages. In Catholicism there is Courting, Obsession, and Possession. When a spirit is courting someone it is exploring weaknesses which would open that person to possession and tempting them into situations to exploit and exacerbate those weaknesses. The spirit might directly influence and inspire the person and attempt to draw them in. When a spirit is obsessing someone the spirit has made contact and presents the person with things they desire and draws them towards desiring a relationship with the spirit or opening up to that spirit's influence. The obsessed person is oppressed by the spirit as the spirit begins to exert some control., often by impacting their well being and weakening the person's resistance to their influence. Possession occurs when the person succumbs to the obsessing spirit and control is relinquished. Finally an integration would occur if the person willingly gives themselves over to the possessing entity.

These stages all take a pretty negative view on the subject because in Catholicism possession is almost always an involuntary and negative act. Catholicism does however provide a lot of the framework for European spirit magic and so an awareness of it can be useful as a way for setting up our thinking.

Another way of looking at it based in Afro-Caribbean traditions would be that in stage one the spirit sits on you or next to you, you can feel the presence of the spirit, it touches you, you can communicate with it, but aside from a more intimate awareness of it, you're still in the driver's seat, and you can break off from the contact. A second stage involves the spirit more intimately connecting with you such that it can influence and take partial control. You're aware of what's happening, mostly, and you can exert some control, but you and the spirit are kind of sharing control of the steering wheel. The third phase is when the spirit is in full control, and you act as the spirit, you may or may not have awareness and it may or may not communicate with you so much as through you in this process. ( To be clear, I am not an initiate of any African Diaspora, or African Traditional Religions. My comments here are based on understandings of Kimbanda from classes, books and discussions with Kimbandieros. I will happily accept correction if I have mischaracterized this comparison.)

Knowledge and Conversation is somewhere between stage one and stage two, which would fit somewhere close to the obsession stage in a Catholic context. But in the case of Knowledge and Conversation it is voluntary on our parts, and so that gives it an integrated element, which makes it like he reception of a Head Spirit, or being Crowned, in which the spirit with whom you work, by whom you are possessed “resides” with you and so there is an on going relationship in which the “stage” or the clarity of contact, moves on a scale as per the context of the particular moment.

That said, unless you've experienced these types of spiritual interaction, this probably doesn't explain the experience too much.

To go back to Hollywood as a means of illustrating...Death Note is a good example. The relationship between Light and his God of Death is a good example. Ryuk is always there, even if he's just sort of in the back of Light's awareness. They communicate, Light gets answers and suggestions from Ryuk. Ryuk isn't in control but his presence impacts how Light is able to approach things and Ryuk is at times able to facilitate things for him. On some level it looks kind of like a relationship with a familiar spirit, except that Ryuk exerts influence just by virtue of his connection to Light as well as directly by what he communicates, rather than a familiar, who generally performs tasks and provides information but without that same influence. The recent Fox TV series version of The Exorcist has also depicted this phase of possession, albeit in a negative context, in season two of the series. Andy, the possessed individual, initially experiences the possessing spirit as a girl who he believes to be one of his foster children. She suggests things to him, influences what he does and how he makes decisions, she isn't always with him but she's always watching and can make suggestions to or influence Andy pretty much whenever she chooses, but still she's not ultimately in control of him.

Recently when talking with the same friend who pointed out that some people treat the Holy Guardian Angel like a One and Done kind of thing I described it like this:

“By possession I mean like first/second stage The spirit is touching you so it knows and understands you and is able to freely talk to you, but it's there like generally. Like not every waking moment but at any given moment it can interact. It's intimately in the space of your being; still identifiably separate though, but it doesn't feel dissociative. It is like a partner who sits in your sphere and kind of comes into your ear when he needs to speak.”

I could go into what talking to it is like, or how this relationship impacts magic and divination and other spirit work...but if I did all that in one blog post it's seriously limit what I'd have to talk about later.

In any case, finishing the Abramelin, or Liber 8, or Samekh, or whatever ritual you intend to use to achieve Knowledge and Conversation is great, and it's important, but it isn't really the goal or the prize. That all comes later, and is the unfolding relationship which completing the ritual catalyzes. It's not just that single moment, but rather the way in which it affects all the later moments.

Speaking of relationships...once again, if you liked this, please share, and please like us, and encourage your friends to like us on that vast and ranging Book of Faces.

The Raccolta and the Holy Guardian Angel

In my post yesterday on Lent I spoke about the unique moments of the Pascal season which provide liturgically significant times for spiritual work involved in connecting to the Holy Guardian Angel, and to The Beloved. The Angel runs parallel to the Prince of the Presence, who in early Jewish mystical systems was the angel charged with functioning as the apparition of God, and also as a guide forward into the higher realms of creation and unto the Palaces of the Divine Throne room. Along this path the angel also taught seals, passwords and invocations which gave access to the heavens and the spirits who resides therein along with their magical secrets.

For Abraham the Jew the function of the Angel was to teach the Sacred Magic and guide the magician in his magical endeavors, as well as to function as both an intermediary and a thwarting angel who singularly brought all demons within the purview of the magician's control.

In modern magic the angel is our guide, our source of power and authority and our connection to divinity.

Often people think of Knowledge and Conversation, or the Abramelin working, or Liber Samekh as the magic the angel relates to, but the angel is a part of our daily life and experience as a magician. Even for those who have not made firm committed contact with their angels, it is advisable to seek routine communion with the angel even from the beginning of one's magical career. If you have this communion already it becomes easier for the angel to guide you in determining if and when and how you should seek to make firmer your connection.

There is a lot of material in both magical and religious tradition which can be used for working with the angel. We've talked about some of it in posts here before, and we'll continue to do so. Since we took a stop into Catholic territory to discuss Lent I figured we could also look at a short simple prayer to the Guardian Angel from the Raccolta.

TheRaccolta is a collection of traditional Roman Catholic prayers which have been granted various “indulgences” by Popes. Essentially these are prayers which have been given added institutional power, a sort of official magic, which is supposed to add to their spiritual effect. Personally I think this is pretty cool. There are a lot of prayers in it which won't be of particular interest or use for the magician, but there are a lot which can be used in work with the Saints, the Dead, and of course the Angel. So for a magician working with these spirits this is a pretty awesome collection to explore because these are prayers which carry weight within the spiritual traditions connected to some of these spirits.

In the future we may explore some additional Catholic angels prayers (haha “may”...we totally will...) but for now here is a simple one we can look at today:

“112. "ANGEL OF GOD," ETC.

While we give thanks to God for having granted to each of us a holy angel for our guardian, we ought ever to bear in mind the respect, devotion, and loving confidence we owe to this blessed spirit; and with these feelings we should often think of him, and implore his constant aid with the following well-known invocation:

Angele Dei, qui custos es mei, me tibi commissum pietate superna, illumina, custodi, rege, et guberna. Amen.

O angel of God, whom God hath appointed to be my guardian, enlighten and protect, direct and govern me.

Or else.

Angel of God, my guardian dear,
To whom His love commits me here,
Ever this day be at my side,
To light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.

Pope Pius VI., in order to kindle the fervour of the faithful to have frequent recourse to their holy Angel Guardian, granted, motu proprio, by a Brief of October 2, 1795 -
i. An indulgence of 100 days every time the above-named short prayer is said devoutly and with a contrite heart.
ii. A plenary indulgence to those who have been accustomed to say it morning and evening throughout the year, on the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels, October 2; provided that on that day, after Confession and Communion, they visit a church or public oratory and pray for the Sovereign Pontiff.
iii. A plenary indulgence, in articulo mortis, was added by the same Pope, in another Brief of September 2, 1796, to all who had been accustomed during life frequently to say the said prayer. In this Brief also, motu proprio, he confirmed the Indulgences already granted.
His successor, Pius VII., afterwards, by a decree of the S. Congr. of Indulgences, of May 15, 1821, besides confirming afresh the above-named Indulgences, granted -
iv. A plenary indulgence to all the faithful who say at least once a day, for a month together, the said prayer, Angele Dei, &c., on any one day when, after Confession and Communion, they visit a church and pray as above.”

-- The Raccolta

I have included in our quotation the indulgence info just as an example.

The prayer itself does not need much updating to fit a less Catholic worldview. It's pretty standard in its connection to the angel. “Rule” might seem out of step for many contemporary magicians but it needn't imply submission to an authority so much as acceptance of a standard of guidance. It could easily be replaced by “inspire” if one dislikes “rule.”

The prayer could easily be said at the outset of the day, or before leaving for some task. It could be incorporated into a sort of rosary or used as a chanted prayer for meditation to connect with the angel. It is short enough to be memorized and could be used as a quick recitation to center oneself on the connection to the angel when the events of the day set you off center.

Adding a lamp or candle consecrated to the angel as a point of focus can be useful when praying such prayers. Anointing with Abramelin oil, or with an ash like that described yesterday can be another good material way to connect with the angel during such a prayer. Novena candles for the Guardian Angel or for the Holy Spirit, possibly combined with prayers on petition papers could draw a more magical focus to either building the connection or connecting the prayer into a magical petition to the angel.

Rings and Things

Each time I have read from the Greater Hekhalot the passages regarding Anaphiel are striking to me. He is not the highest angel in heaven, and he is given as distinct from the Prince of the Presence. He is one of several angels at the final gate leading into the Chamber of the Throne. There are several angels associated with this gate, as with the preceding six, but none are given the attention given to Anaphiel. Despite his recognition within the Hekhalot literature he has not continued to receive such distinction in later angelology and magic.

For those unfamiliar with him in Chapter 22 of the Greater Hekhalot it says:

“Anaphiel the Lord, a prince honored and beloved and fearful and terrifying and dear and splendid and strong and mighty and powerful and just and gallant, a prince whose name is mentioned on high before the throne of His glory three times each day from the day when the world was created and until now, for praise. Why? Because the ring of the seal of heaven and earth is given over to his hand. And whenever they see him all those on high kneel and fall down and prostrate themselves before him, a thing which is not done in the height [before any other prince]. If you say, 'They do not fall down before the Prince of the Presence‘ [This is true] for those who stand before the throne of His glory, who do not prostrate themselves before the Prince of the Presence, but before Anaphiel the Prince [even] so with the permission and according to the will of ‘ntrws rbyhg. Some say pwmyl smh brz‘, the Lord God of Israel.”

So he is given as the Prince who bears the ring with the seal of Heaven and Earth. He receives further distinctions elsewhere in the literature. In the Sefer Hekhalot he is the angel who brings Enoch into the Heavens on the journey which results in Enoch becoming the Metatron. As Enoch is not yet the Prince of the Presence, the Lesser YHVH, at this point Anaphiel is called Anaphiel YHVH indicating his likeness to the divine in his opportunity to function as the Prince of the Presence administering to Enoch.

Two elements of this story relate to how the first passage may become meaningful for us.

First Anaphiel functions as a Prince of the Presence and bears the fourfold name. Alternatively, when Metatron is not given as the Prince of the Presence the role most typically falls upon Michael, whose name is “He who is like God”. This similarity does not equate Anaphiel and Michael, as many angelic names are given in association with divine names throughout the course of the Hekhalot and Merkavah literature. The similar role does however put them within a group of angels of similar function in which they hold the highest positions in Heaven and appear before the most holy mortals as the manifest presence of the divine.

Additionally, Anaphiel performs this role in relation to Enoch rising to the Heavens. Enoch rising to the Heavens occurred prior to the Flood, as Enoch was brought to testify against mankind. According to the Sefer Hekhalot the Shekhinah was present on Earth as the divine presence, the wisdom which allowed for communication between pious men and the heavens. The Shekhinah in this context is not given the same anthropomorphizing as it is in later Kabbalistic works which treat her as God's bride, in this case the Shekhinah is treated much more like the Ruakh HaKodesh, as a divine energy, an expression of the divine presence manifest as the force of wisdom. When the angels expressed concern over the idolatry of mankind they convinced God to remove the Shekhinah from the Earth. It was at this same time that Enoch was removed. While Anaphiel is not named as one of the angels who removes the Shekhinah, it is a whole heavenly host who do so, Anaphiel is definitely named as an angel involved in the movements between Heaven and Earth at the time.

During this same literary period we find one of the earliest examples of a grimoire, or perhaps a proto-grimoire, and the earliest piece of literature in the tradition of Solomonic magic: The Testament of Solomon. The Testament of Solomon describes Solomon receiving a ring and divine grace by which he could command demons. This divine grace is of the same nature as the Shekhinah or the Ruakh HaKodesh. The ring is in part a symbol of its presence.

The Testament says:

“And it came about through my prayer that grace was given to me from the Lord Sabaoth by Michael his archangel. [He brought me] a little ring, having a seal consisting of an engraved stone, and said to me: "Take, O Solomon, king, son of David, the gift which the Lord God has sent thee, the highest Sabaoth. With it thou shalt lock up all demons of the earth, male and female; and with their help thou shalt build up Jerusalem. [But] thou [must] wear this seal of God. And this engraving of the seal of the ring sent thee is a Pentalpha." ”

So again, Michael, who functions as a Prince of the Presence delivers a ring. Anaphiel, who also bears the name of the Lord, and functions as a Prince of the Presence, also bears a ring bearing the heavenly seal. His ring is one by which all angels are brought to kneel. It would stand to reason that the ring bearing the seal of Heaven and Earth would be the ring given to Solomon. The nature of a ring given by a king is typically to bear the seal of the king and show the investiture of his authority in the one who has the ring, this is the seal described on the ring of Anaphiel. Solomon's ring commands the obedience of all spirits, just as would that of Anaphiel.

Anaphiel's description and function in the Hekhalot material give additional information which can inform our understanding of the magic ring.

The Greater Hekhalot says:

“And why was his name called Anaphiel? Because of the ramification anaph of the crowns [which were] placed upon his head, for he overcast and covered all of the chambers of the seventh heaven as did the Maker of Creation. Just as, concerning the Maker of Creation it is written [Hab. 3.3]: ―His glory covered the heavens,‖ so also [does the glory] Anaphiel the Prince as a servant who is called by his master‘s name.”

Anaphiel's name means “branch” referring to the branches of the crown. He is compared to the Creator whose glory covers the heavens. 2 Enoch in describing the Garden of Eden gives beautiful imagery which relates to this idea. It says:

“And in the midst of the trees that of life, in that place whereon the Lord rests, when he goes up into paradise; and this tree is of ineffable goodness and fragrance, and adorned more than every existing thing; and on all sides it is in form gold-looking and vermilion and fire-like and covers all, and it has produce from all fruits.” (2 Enoch 8:3)

Here it describes the Tree of Life amid the Garden of Eden as the resting place of God, in Sefer Hekhalot this is the place from which the Shekhinah is taken. In the description here the Tree is like a fiery all encompassing canopy which stretches over all of paradise, it is the adornment of the divine glory and divine harmony throughout the Garden.

The crown of branches described by Anaphiel's name is the same. Sefer Hekhalot in Chapter 18 is worded very similarly to the passage of the Greater Hekhalot. It further notes the other angels removing their crowns of glory when they lay prostrate before Anaphiel. Anaphiel is also sometimes noted as ministering to the Lord by placing and removing his crown of glory for him. His name and function is very much tied to the crown, him being the Branches in whom are the name of the Lord. He is the act of investiture of divine Glory.

This is consistent in his treatment. He brings Enoch to heaven that Enoch may be so invested in divine glory that he is consumed by fire and becomes the Metatron, the Lesser YHVH. He carries the ring of the seal of Heaven and Earth, which is the ring given to Solomon so that he might possess the Ruakh HaKodesh and its wisdom. His name reflects the crown of the divine and its overshadowing glory, which is the very nature of the Tree of Life and the presence of the Shekhinah on Earth. He is the only angel before whom the other angels prostrate themselves in praise.

One final quotation from the Greater Hekhalot will clarify the meaning of his nature:

“And why is he more lovely and beloved than all the [other] door-keepers of the palaces? Because he openeth the doors of the entrance of the seventh palace and closeth them before the throne of glory which is set high and standeth opposite the entrance of the seventh palace.”

He is the angel who gives access to the Chamber of the Throne and even brings the mystic into the Throne presenting him to the Merkavah and preventing the angels from destroying him. He facilitates what the Creator ultimately wants, for the mystic to achieve success and be brought into union with the Throne.

All of this explains the magic ring. We can get whatever ring we want, and wear it on whatever finger we want and dance around in circles and pretend to be magical, but doing all of that is really rather silly. The true magic ring is a sign of the presence of divine grace within the one who bears the ring. It is a sacrament, an outer sign of an inner state. The magician who possesses the true ring is in communion with the Prince of the Presence, the Angel in whom is the name of God, or, in our modern magical vernacular, the Holy Guardian Angel. The ring likewise bears the great name and sign of God, as does the soul of the magician who has the right to wield the ring. The process by which the magician receives the ring is the beginning of the process of moving through the Chambers to stand in the presence of the Throne, the process by which the magician gains Mastery and becomes like the Metatron, the Lesser YHVH.

When you have properly received the ring, and then in future works you put on the ring, consider this angel's nature. By putting on the ring you wear the fiery crown of branches that harmonizes creation within the divine glory. By putting on the ring you are united with the Shekhinah, the Ruakh HaKodesh, the divine presence on earth. You have the divine authority literally at your finger tips, because, you, like Enoch, are beloved of the Creator, and you're on the road to his Throne.